Summer Game Fest will feature three or four “pretty big” announcements

We’re just a few weeks away from Summer Game Fest on June 8th, and the show’s host and producer, Geoff Keighley, has revealed that some big announcements are on the way.

The details:

• Keighley has shared some details about the upcoming show in a new interview posted on the Epic Games Store. To begin with, we now know that the show will be two hours long and will feature news, updates, and world premieres while providing a more relaxed experience than The Game Awards, which Keighley also produces and hosts.
• The show will feature a live audience for the first time, with 3,000 people attending in person at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles and expected to "create a lot of energy in the room." Keighley also confirmed that the change in pace will allow developers to get up on stage and discuss their games in depth, rather than just showing a trailer.
• We don't know what to expect, but Keighley says three or four things will be "pretty big for this audience." The gameplay trailer for FromSoftware's hit Elden Ring was shown off for the first time in 2021, possibly the show's most significant announcement yet, so it will take a lot to live up to that moment. It's also worth noting that other publishers and developers are hosting their own Summer Game Fest events, with Xbox hosting its Game Showcase and Starfield showcase on June 11 and Ubisoft hosting its first ever Ubisoft Forward Live the following day, so we can expect even more huge announcements.
• Keighley was also asked if the cancellation of E3 had an impact on the show, to which he replied that it came as a surprise, followed by "We had long planned exactly what we're doing" and "We're kind of building on what we've done for three years." Despite the presence of many major industry players, the show is not a replacement for E3, as attendees will not be able to test out upcoming games via demo stations, and booths will be absent from the venue.

More gaming news:

• China’s antitrust regulator, the State Administration for Market Regulation, has approved Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The decision comes just a few weeks after the European Commission approved the deal and a month after the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked it.
• Brace Yourself Games, the developer of Crypt of the NecroDancer, has confirmed that layoffs have occurred at the studio. According to a former team member, senior management made an "incredibly difficult" decision that resulted in the dismissal of up to half of the team.